The invention described herein relates in general to the field of industrial machinery and technology, and in particular, to systems, devices and methods for optical fiber finishing and polishing.
In recent years it has become apparent that fiber optics are steadily replacing copper wire as a means of signal transmission in a variety of applications. Fiber optics are capable of spanning long distances as well as sustaining the backbone for many network systems.
Fiber optic systems use light pulses to transmit information through optical fiber lines. Optical fibers are long, thin strands of pure glass often about the diameter of a human hair. Typically, optical fibers are arranged in bundles called optical cables to allow for a robust system. In order to preserve the signal integrity, each optical fiber end should be polished with a smooth finish free of defects. Defects, as well as other impurities and dirt, change the geometrical propagation patterns of light and consequently cause scattering. Scatter in turn compromises the integrity of optical fiber systems.
Present technologies use rotational motion to polish dome or circular shaped optical fibers and are not well suited, for example, to polish multiple fibers at the same time or actively control the orientation of the fiber tips to allow for a variable radius of curvature. An example of a current technology includes a mechanical polishing system in which a rotating wheel polishes optical fibers. This and other available systems provide adequate polishing for a flat end surface but not circular or dome shaped surfaces. In addition, such systems require multiple degrees of rotational motion of a tool to polish a dome shaped fiber, making some systems difficult to use in an efficient manner.
To polish a curved surface, typical systems use elastic pads that provide uniform pressure distribution over the surface; however, they are not well suited for polishing fibers with varying curvatures. Accordingly, such systems fail to provide robust polishing abilities, are inefficient, costly and are not available for multiple fiber applications. Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for polishing both single and multiple optical fibers at a time without multiple degrees of rotational motion of a polishing tool. What is also needed is a system and method of polishing single and multiple optical fibers with a global planar motion.